Narcolepsy Support Group

A sleep disorder (somnipathy) is a disorder in the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders can interfere with mental and emotional function. If you are having trouble falling asleep or having some other kind of sleep disturbance, this group is for you.

HALLUCINATIONS

Sleep paralysis, or more properly, sleep paralysis with hypnagogic and hypnopompic hallucinations have been singled out as a particularly likely source of beliefs concerning not only alien abductions, but all manner of beliefs in alternative realities and otherworldly creatures. Sleep paralysis is a condition in which someone, most often lying in a supine position, about to drop off to sleep, or just upon waking from sleep realizes that s/he is unable to move, or speak, or cry out. This may last a few seconds or several moments, occasionally longer. People frequently report feeling a "presence" that is often described as malevolent, threatening, or evil. An intense sense of dread and terror is very common. The presence is likely to be vaguely felt or sensed just out of sight but thought to be watching or monitoring, often with intense interest, sometimes standing by, or sitting on, the bed. On some occasions the presence may attack, strangling and exerting crushing pressure on the chest. People also report auditory, visual, proprioceptive, and tactile hallucinations, as well as floating sensations and out-of-body experiences (Hufford, 1982). These various sensory experiences have been referred to collectively as hypnagogic and hypnopompic experiences (HHEs). People frequently try, unsuccessfully, to cry out. After seconds or minutes one feels suddenly released from the paralysis, but may be left with a lingering anxiety. Extreme effort to move may even produce phantom movements in which there is proprioceptive feedback of movement that conflicts with visual disconfirmation of any movement of the limb. People may also report severe pain in the limbs when trying to move them. Several recent surveys including our own suggest that between 25-30% of the population reports that they have experienced at least a mild form of sleep paralysis at least once and about 20-30% of these have had the experience on several occasions. A few people may have very elaborate experiences almost nightly (or many times in a night) for years. Aside from many of the very disturbing features of the experience itself (described in succeeding sections) the phenomenon is quite benign. It was thought in the past that it was a significant part of the so-called "narcoleptic tetrad", but recent surveys of non-clinical populations, such as ours, suggest that the prevalence may be as high among the general population as among diagnosed narcoleptics.

an easier view of this is...
Hypnagogic hallucination is episodes of seeing and hearing things as one is falling asleep. These dreams can be frightening and can often cause a sudden jerk and arousal just before sleep onset. For example, you may see yourself falling and awaken with a sudden jerk, just before impact. As the subject drifts off to sleep, he/she moves into a state that

combines the environment, of which the subject is still partially aware, with a dream-like state of sleep, in which he might see people and hear them talking. The experiences are often frightening. Sleep deprivation, irregular sleep schedules, and medications all can predispose to occurrences of this phenomenon.
Hypnagogic hallucinations can occur at sleep onset, either during daytime sleep episodes or at night. They are usually quite vivid, and often involve vision. The visual hallucinations usually consist of simple forms colored circles or parts of objects that are constant or changing in size. People may also see the image of an animal or a person, and are more often in color. Auditory hallucinations are also common, but other senses are seldom involved. Hypnagogic hallucinations are dreams that intrude on wakefulness, which can cause visual, auditory, or touchable sensations. They occur between waking and sleeping, usually at the onset of sleep, and can also occur about 30 seconds after a cataleptic attack. Hypnagogic hallucinations are a feature of narcolepsy.

A couple of weeks ago I saw R2D2 right in front of my face for a few seconds. It is one of the only times I ever experienced it. As I knew what it was, I wasn't upset at all just amused that I would have been dreaming of Star wars characters!

When I first learned exactly what hypnogogic hallucinations were (actually I have hypnopompic hallucinations which differ only in that they occur when our body is beginning to wake up), I almost immediately thought of the people who swear they've seen aliens in their rooms, thought they were abducted, or who believe they are seeing ghosts, etc.

I think they believe so strongly because in my experience, my HH experiences stay with me. I can recall HH events that happened years ago, unlike bad dreams, nightmares, etc., that fade from memory. I had one HH that was so real to me that when I was able to break the paralysis, I went to the phone and called a friend and was yelling &quot;They killed my baby, they killed my baby!&quot; I was well beyond the having a baby stage. Thankfully she had recently become aware of what HH's were.

On another note, I have seen people on America's Funniest Home Videos who are clearly having cataplexy attacks. Of course no one realizes it.

One lady was surprised by her friends when she walked into a room and they all shoulted &quot;Surprise! Happy Birthday!&quot; You can see the quick look of astonishment on her face and then the obvious collapse into a cataplexy attack. Another one they show is actually a toddler who is crying mightily, running through the house, (one would surmise that he's mad about something) and he cries, collapses, in a few seconds gets up, cries, collapses, seconds pass, and on it goes. You can hear the parents in the background as they are filming this chuckling to themselves.

Hi sad,
suffered from the above phenomena for 20 years and always wrote it off as &quot;a variation of normal&quot;.

I am curious: where did you gather all this info from. Was it from a scientific journal or internet link? I would be interested in studies etc...regarding prevalence of all this in general population etc,.
thanks,
sc

I also have seen the AFV videos and had the same concerns. There are regular dreams that I have had over the years that I remember as clearly as actual events. Sometimes I think my brain records dreams like that are waking events...and memories of waking events sometimes quickly fade away they way dreams normally would. Poor little confused brain cells! Has anyone else noticed a lot more glitching on the site lately?

Marilyn's comment about having some of the same dreams repeatedly made me me realize I also have one particular dream on a regular basis, it is not a pleasant dream , but it is not what I would consider a nightmare either. And I usually have this dream in times of deep stress, I just never associated it with HH. Now this morning I am not sure if I had SP last night, or if I dreamed it. If I did have it, that would be the first time since on Xyrem. I really don't like not knowing if something was a dream or not. Hopefully as the day goes on and I'm a bit clearer thinking I'll be able to figure this one out.

this explains alot to me...iv had this experience during sleep for many years and no one could tell me what it actually was.....i think they thought i was loopy.i have the paralysis alot then dont have it again for weeks or months,not sure if there is a pattern.it's quite a scarey experience,it feels so real,iv have the held down feeling,trying to cry for help,no noise seems to come out....iv often sensed a presence which scares me.no sure what to make of that???

thankx for writing this information.....its very helpful in understanding this phenonmenon.

i get this! But i'm getting used to it. Getting everynight now been off meds for about a month now. At least i know what kind of night i'm going to have! If i get this, at least i get some sleep, if not i stare at the dark all night!

I've had SP &amp; hallucinations regularly for about 20 years. It has been more prevalent when I haven't been able to sleep at night, due to staying up all night studying, working night shifts, illness or stress. I also seemed to be overdreaming, and I noticed for a while that the bed covers never looked very ruffled in the morning, as if I hadn't moved much in the night. I've been taking fluoxetine for 2 months to suppress REM sleep, though was reluctant to do so, as didn't want to suppress my natural sleep. It's made a big difference though - am dreaming a lot less, and seem to be moving more while asleep.

Hello, this is my first post so i hope i do ok.
I suffer with hallucinations (audible and visual) and sleep paralysis. I am glad its not just me.
The sense of a presence and the feeling of someone lifting my legs up in the air by the ancles sometimes so high only my head and shoulders are touching the bed. also floating inches away from the ceiling.
I have always had very vivid and colourfull dreams that although sometimes bizarre but very real. More often these days I am able to realise in the dream that I am in fact asleep in bed and dreaming.
Example: one afternoon i went to bed and dreamt i was at my parents and outside the house i was greeted by the family dog i put my arm around him &quot;hello&quot;. then realised &quot;hang on i just went to bed, i am at home not at my parents&quot;. I immediately woke up, for about an hour i could still feel the fur on my arm.
Being a bit more used to this happening i am able to control my dreams in the dream. Have you dreamt of turning lights on in the house and none of them work, just say to yourself im dreaming.

My dreams are always very strange - and VERY vivid -I can feel pain, smell and taste.
I tend to mix things into my dreams that have happened that week or that day. So the next day I can not tell if what I am thinking was something I dreamed or if it really happened. - Like I will dream that I told my husband a very important detail - so when I mention it to him the next day in real life he has no idea what I am talking about.

Often I will ask my friends or family - did I tell you that or did I dream it?

**I think my kids take advantage sometimes!**
they say I told you that yesterday, don't you remember?

It really is kind of funny sometimes

One very scary thing that happened was my first experience with SP - and vivid dreaming together!
I was asleep on the couch and I was dreaming that my daughter was laying on the other couch - All of a sudden I told myself that I had to wake up but my body would not move! So finally with all my strength I grabbed my daughter by the face and put her nose to mine and screamed WAKE ME UP!! PLEASE WAKE ME UP!!!
Later I asked her why she didn't wake me up and she said &quot;Mom, I haven't been in here at all tonight, I have been in my room.&quot;
It's was a combo of everything - SP, HH and mixing reality with my dream..
sorry so long..but thought it was an interesting story to share..

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